A good story
Our children can be surprising sometimes. I mean that in a good way, not as in "Dad, can you meet me at the emergency room?" No, they surprise us by bringing up some long-fogotten lesson, and in this case, the lesson originated with others, not me and Mary.
Jordan works for Valor Security. He was hired back in the summer, and since the job involves providing security for Woodland Hills Mall, he's been relatively happy. It has most of what he enjoys, food and lots of girls. I've offered to pack him a lunch and he always declines. The girls at the food court feed him for free. It helps that he's a fit and handsome young man, but I'll freely admit that he got the looks from his mother.
Valor has foot patrols and a Segway inside the mall. They use small SUVs for patrolling the parking lot. There were two disused mountain bikes in storage, though, and one day last week, Jordan was assigned to use one for his outside patrol.
The kid lit up. He was issued a new uniform: a helmet, cargo pants, and a polo shirt, a huge improvement over his regular uniform as it's much more comfortable. He was checking out the bike - a Smith and Wesson police model - when his supervisor walked in.
She wanted to know what he was doing, so he explained his assignment. Then she asked what qualifications he had to use the bike. "I took Road1 with my Dad", he said, "and I still have the certificate somewhere. I'm doing the ABC Quick check, and after I'm done, I'll pump up the tires and put some chain lube on this bike. I rode BMX for a couple of years too, and that's similar to riding a mountain bike."
She was satisfied and left. He wheeled the bike out and spent the next 8 hours riding around at the mall. After his shift, he complained about sore leg muscles, but he'll gladly take the bike patrol again.
So we had an impact on this young man, an impact that he did not forget. Sure, as a parent, I'm tremendously proud of him, but each of you who taught bicycling education and continue teaching cannot foresee the effects you have on students.
Jordan works for Valor Security. He was hired back in the summer, and since the job involves providing security for Woodland Hills Mall, he's been relatively happy. It has most of what he enjoys, food and lots of girls. I've offered to pack him a lunch and he always declines. The girls at the food court feed him for free. It helps that he's a fit and handsome young man, but I'll freely admit that he got the looks from his mother.
Valor has foot patrols and a Segway inside the mall. They use small SUVs for patrolling the parking lot. There were two disused mountain bikes in storage, though, and one day last week, Jordan was assigned to use one for his outside patrol.
The kid lit up. He was issued a new uniform: a helmet, cargo pants, and a polo shirt, a huge improvement over his regular uniform as it's much more comfortable. He was checking out the bike - a Smith and Wesson police model - when his supervisor walked in.
She wanted to know what he was doing, so he explained his assignment. Then she asked what qualifications he had to use the bike. "I took Road1 with my Dad", he said, "and I still have the certificate somewhere. I'm doing the ABC Quick check, and after I'm done, I'll pump up the tires and put some chain lube on this bike. I rode BMX for a couple of years too, and that's similar to riding a mountain bike."
She was satisfied and left. He wheeled the bike out and spent the next 8 hours riding around at the mall. After his shift, he complained about sore leg muscles, but he'll gladly take the bike patrol again.
So we had an impact on this young man, an impact that he did not forget. Sure, as a parent, I'm tremendously proud of him, but each of you who taught bicycling education and continue teaching cannot foresee the effects you have on students.
posted by Ed W at 11:58 AM
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